From live experiences and sports to creator economy deals and vertical series rollouts, Banijay Group is scaling its footprint across the entire “economy of creation.”
“Don’t speak about the creator economy,” Alexia Laroche-Joubert. CEO for France at Banijay, said at StreamTV Europe in Lisbon last month, when asked by Evan Shapiro for her message to “traditional” producers navigating the new ecosystem. “Speak about the economy of creation. We are part of this economy of creation. It’s our DNA. We are producers. We are creators. We know how to do it.”
The message from that session—which also featured CBO Frédéric Balmary, Iberia CEO Pilar Blasco, and Workerbee CEO Rick Murray—and the wealth of headlines from the company over the last few months is clear: adjusting to a more B2C future is critical.
“We keep adapting ourselves, innovating, and changing,” said Balmary, who, as chief business officer, works directly with CEO Marco Bassetti on the company’s overall strategic direction. “As a producer, distributor, and content powerhouse, we have to adapt our B2B model to a more D2C one.”
That is happening across three strategic (and cross-pollinated) pillars, Balmary said: live, digital (aka, the “affinity economy,” as Shapiro has dubbed it), and sports. And the company made a lot of news in all of those spaces over the last few months.
Its German division has launched a streaming service for live shows and entertainment called ShowdownTV, landing with a martial arts event series, and partnered with football influencer Diyar Acar via its branded-entertainment unit. Banijay Entertainment shored up the global format rights to the YouTube-first adventure game Stop The Train. Banijay Productions is developing a slate of microdrama formats. Banijay Iberia has announced a trio of vertical short-form series. Banijay Finland is producing a video mockumentary for Yle in both 9:16 and 16:9 formats. Married at First Sight, a popular microdrama on the ReelShort platform, is getting a Brazilian remake courtesy of Endemol Shine Brasil, which is also working with A Fábrica on a slate of vertical titles. Banijay Rights, meanwhile, has partnered with Merzigo to help optimize and monetize select titles, covering YouTube channels such as MasterChef Universe, Mr Bean TV and Survivor Official TV, and will manage the social media presence for British chef, author, and television personality Jeremy Pang. Banijay Live Studio unveiled an immersive experience for Black Mirror in association with VR studio Univrse, and has been building out the footprint of the live experience LUMINISCENCE with LOTCHI, a Banijay Live company in France.
“We are facing strong headwinds and key structural change in our industry,” Balmary said of the state of the media economy today. “We will continue our ambition to become the largest European studio with a strong focus on English-language content and streaming services, which now represent more than 20% of our revenue. We want to continue to attract and retain the best creative talents and be the best home for them, and also expand our catalog, which is huge now, with more than 250,000 hours.”
Indeed, the “traditional” business remains at the heart of the Banijay portfolio, one that is getting a lot bigger with the acquisition of All3Media. “Scale has never been so important,” Balmary added.
Keep reading for insights from the four executives about what’s working in live events, the approach to sports content, and aligning with creators to drive engagement and monetization opportunities. ScreenMDM Extra subscribers can access the post here. ScreenMDM Club members, sign in here.
